To have opened someone else's post?

Really trivial in the grand scheme of things, but has been bothering me this afternoon.

I got a parcel through the door this morning, opened it up to find a dvd I hadn't ordered. Checked the name thinking it must have been DH and it was for a house in the same town as mine but completely different road, post code etc. I googled the address and it's only 5 roads away so on my way to the shops I thought I'd pop it in. I knocked on the door as obviously it was open and I didn't want them thinking it was the postman or whatever. A lady answered and I explained what had happened and apologised. She started bloody shouting at me! Telling me I had broken the law by opening her post, what kind of person does that, it's her personal business, I had no right. Basically just a long rant about what a terrible person I am! I was just standing there like an idiot listening to her. When my brain started working again I pointed out I would never have opened it if I had realised and I had gone out of my way by about 2 minutes but that's not the point to make sure it reached her safely. I decided to walk away and that was that.

But it's really annoyed me! WI really that U to have accidentally opened it or was she U for the way she reacted?

I wondered whether she was embarrassed but there was nothing untoward about the DVD!

In our house I open all the post. If I left my DH's for him to sort out it would sit on the hallway table for months! So I don't usually check the addressee. I will now though!

Well I for one wouldn't bother myself delivering any misdirected mail in future, just bin it.

That said, I wouldn't have opened it by accident. But that's only because MrsLH and I share the same initial, so a lot of post can be ambiguous.

At our previous address, post seemed to end up at random flats. People always passed on the post with no problem. But it was curious that in 5 years of this, the only letter that "accidentally" got opened was a bank statement for MrsLH.

And continue being lovely to everyone else in the world: i say this as it was a very kind thing to take it round to them, rather than just put it in the bin. I can see you might want to just put it in the bin next time anything addressed to them is put into your house in error.

God ive done that before! We have a service here called text and collect. I collected my parcels, opened them all and one was an engraved item i hadn't ordered engraved for people i didnt know. checked the address and it was for someone with a similar surname 3 doors down from us. So i took it round and explained and the lady was just grateful to get her gift.YANBU

If it was not done maliciously it is not illegal. It is illegal if you ‘intend to act to another’s detriment' but, as you then took the time to deliver it to her, you did not act illegally.

Print out the below and pop it through her door (and then run, obviously)

Postal Services Act 2000

Under the Postal Services Act 2000:

“A person commits an offence if he, without reasonable excuse, intentionally delays or opens a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post, or intentionally opens a mail bag.”

“A person commits an offence if intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.”

This, in essence, means that if you deliberately intercept, throw away or open somebody else’s post you are likely to be breaking the law...

However, sometimes people accidently open other’s post, and they should not face criminal punishment. For example, if somebody receives a lot of post and therefore opens it quickly, it is quite likely that they may open another’s post (which may have been incorrectly sent to them) without looking at who the letter is addressed to.

Clearly, in this situation it would be wrong to face criminal punishment for opening another’s post. But this highlights the difficulties faced by those who would attempt to prove someone’s intent to act to a person’s detriment.

What a fucking rude, nasty bitch!You were really nice. I've had this before, ordered something from amazon, it arrived as promised addressed to me in a box. Fine, but at the bottom of the box was a sealed small parcel addressed to someone else! I just shoved it into a post box. People can be really shitty.

I did something kind for a family today. The man thanked me profusely and the woman looked at me like I was a murderer! People can be weird.

LazyLouLou the way she reacted when I delivered something that was hers, I dread to think what she'd do if I posted something like that! Maybe I should leave it on the doorstep, ring the bell then leg it behind the hedge to watch her face

One good thing that has come out of it though, I was telling DH on the phone yesterday what had happened and mentioned I wanted to see the film and should've just kept it for myself He popped in to sainsbury's on the way home and bought it for me